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Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

Sy sien haarself in die spieël.
She sees herself in the mirror.
FromLesson 11inHardcore Afrikaans

Breakdown of Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

sy
she
sien
to see
die
the
in
in
haarself
herself
die spieël
the mirror

Questions & Answers about Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

Why is sy used here, and how can I tell it’s she and not the possessive his?
sy at the beginning of a sentence is the subject pronoun she. It’s not the possessive sy meaning his, because the possessive always precedes a noun (e.g. sy boek = his book). The possessive pronoun for her is haar, which appears in haarself.
What exactly is haarself, and why not just haar?
haarself is the reflexive pronoun meaning herself, used when the subject and object are the same person. haar alone can mean either the object pronoun her (referring to someone else) or the possessive pronoun her. To express that she sees her own self, you need the reflexive haarself.
How are reflexive pronouns generally formed in Afrikaans?

They’re formed by taking the object or possessive pronoun and adding -self as one word. For example:

  • ek → object pronoun my → myself
  • jy → object pronoun jou → jouself
  • hy → object pronoun hom → homself
  • sy → object pronoun haar → haarself
  • ons → object pronoun ons → onsself
  • julle → object pronoun jul → julself
  • hulle → object pronoun hulle → hulleself
Why is in die spieël used here, and not op die spieël or another preposition?
To talk about reflections, Afrikaans uses the preposition in. So in die spieël means in the mirror. Using op die spieël would translate as on the mirror, which implies something is resting on its surface rather than a reflection inside the glass.
Why do we use die before spieël instead of ’n?
die is the definite article the, used when referring to a specific mirror (for example the mirror on the wall). If you wanted to say a mirror, you would use the indefinite article ’n: sy sien haarself in ’n spieël.
How is spieël pronounced, and what does the dieresis ¨ over the second e indicate?
spieël is pronounced roughly [ˈspi.əl], similar to SPEE-uhl in English. The dieresis (the ¨) over the second e shows that this e starts a new syllable, so it isn’t part of the earlier ie sound.
What is the basic word order in Sy sien haarself in die spieël, and why does haarself come before in die spieël?

The basic order is Subject – Verb – Object – Adverbial phrase:

  1. sy (subject)
  2. sien (verb)
  3. haarself (object pronoun)
  4. in die spieël (place)
    Pronoun objects in Afrikaans typically follow the verb directly, then any place expressions.
How would you turn this into a yes/no question or make it negative?

• Yes/no question: swap verb and subject
Sien sy haarself in die spieël? (Does she see herself in the mirror?)
• Negative statement: insert nie after the verb and again at the end
Sy sien haarself nie in die spieël nie. (She does not see herself in the mirror.)

How can I express this in the past tense?

Use the auxiliary het and place the past participle at the end:
Sy het haarself in die spieël gesien.
This literally reads as “She has seen herself in the mirror” in Afrikaans but is used for “She saw herself in the mirror.”

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